Yellowwood

The wood from this tree gives it its name. The hard wood is bright yellow when first cut, but it mellows into a satiny light brown which is prized for gun stocks. Pioneer women soaked wood chips to make a yellow dye to color their homespun. It is a native along ridges and cliffs in Appalachia. The yellowwood makes a handsome medium -sized ornamental especially in spring. In May wisteria-like white flowers droop in long clusters, and the tree seems to be raining white. Long, flat seed pods drop in the fall.